Fat Black Women Let's Go There

I came across a post over at Nubian Fitness Goddess, entitled“I’m Thick!!” Are Black Women in Denial About Their Health. At first she goes through the descriptors “thick” and “F.A.T” (Fabulous and Fat) to discuss black women that are considered obese. Apparently it is okay to accept these terms as long as you are attempting to do something about your “excess weight”. Loving yourself for who you are is somehow impossible, if your body is encased in a lump fat. Think about loving the body you will/should have, versus the body you currently inhabit. We all must openly acknowledge the health concerns of carrying excess weight. Yes I know, diabetes, strokes, etc are risks however, why must we constantly acknowledge this to make skinny people satisfied that we find our selves contemptible? Confess, Confess you twinkie eating fatty…Skinny= Good, Fat = Bad, and everyone knows it. Quick ,say 20 Hail Marys and 10 Our Fathers for absolution. How dare you have any kind of self esteem while you are shoving an extra large pizza down your throat, cause you know all of us fatties are constantly binge eating, ignoring the health risks. How do we even sleep at night with that threat hanging over our heads.

She even goes as far as to supply us with a list which she claims “not to endorse”. Why provide a list and not endorse it, own it sweetie you posted it.

Yeppers Kym and Queen Latifah are fatties. Lets not focus on their talent (especially where the Queen is Concerned), success, or beauty. Who the hell would want to identify with that? Wrapped in all of this supposed concern about health, is just another veiled attempt to disciple the bodies of women. We all need to fit into a certain size, or stereotype to be considered valuable. Let’s take a scroll through the commentary:

“YES!! I am really tired of morbidly obese black women loudly proclaiming they are thick and sexy but short of breath after going up a flight of stairs. All of the women in my family, except for me, are overweight by 30-150 pounds. My 35 year old sister takes Lipitor and Glyburide and has no plans of losing weight. I think that many black women feel that if they actively lose weight and eat a proper diet, they are giving in to the regimented beauty standard set by society. It makes me angry and sad.”

This person so believed in what they had to say, they posted anonymously. And what insight, we are using our weight to rebel against convention. Black women don’t have enough struggles in this life, and so we just feel it is necessary to add another dimension.

FaceBook Responses:

I think a lot of black women are in denial about their health. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with having an attractive “thick” build you need to work it out and eat healthy. Eating healthy doesn’t mean starving yourself, and working out doesn’t mean you’re trying to be a size zero. It means you are keeping yourself in shape, preventing high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and maintaining a healthy heart. I’ve found when I’m treating my body healthily, it enhances my mental and spiritual health as well. Besides muscular toned thickness is the best. Sistas we already have the BEST shapes given to womankind, we just gotta keep em fit!

No fat person has ever seen the inside of a gym. The only thing we think of as exercise is lifting fried chicken legs to our mouths, or squeezing the top off of the lard container. I do love the racial superiority uplift after running fat women down. Don’t worry if you loose weight you too can be a Nubian goddess. Stop thwarting nature girlfriend.

I think that black women are coming to the realization that that we are not thick- but obese. Being thick is just not healthy regardless of how good we look. If we want to advance in our careers, we have to understand that employers discriminate against fat people-it is unspoken but it does happen.

So instead of fighting discrimination we should all join Jenny Craig and conform, conform, conform. Lets hear three cheers for the multi=million dollar diet industry. Imagine how much they need the boost from the few disposable dollars that black women have.

I think a lot of us are in denial about how healthy we are we choose to affectionately describe ourselves as thick or voluptuous, when in reality we are reinforcing behaviors and ideas that will lead us to overweight or obese.

Right, because we need others to tell us that we are overweight. We don’t look at ourselves in the mirror and truly assess our bodies like all other women on the planet. Thank God these women are out there to tell me how unacceptable, unhealthy, and truly grotesque that I am. I never would have known this on my own. Somehow I didn’t understand that buying plus size clothing meant that I was not the so-called “average” size. How did I live in denial all of these years?

Okay ladies lets talk some truth that all of you have neglected. Black women by enlarged live in poverty. If you have been to a grocery store, then you know the true price of food. Compare the cost of a head of broccoli to say a box of kraft dinner…which do you think is cheaper…the box of kd. Sometimes people cannot eat better because they cannot afford better. Has it even occurred to you that there is a link between poverty and obesity? Why would that be? Perhaps because the price of healthy food is extremely expensive, and I am not even talking about organic food. The cycle of obesity runs in families partly due to genetics, and partly due to generational poverty. It is not always a case of self will, but I will be sure and tell all of the sistas not to even bother to try and turn adversity into triumph by loving themselves despite everything.

Oh, and about your health concerns…some people are heavy because they have an illness. Try and stay skinny taking steroids, or having a thyroid problem. But oh no, once again lets ignore the reason why people may be heavy, and just judge them without knowing their story. Health, health,health, you women use it like a battering ram without ever looking at the other side of the equation. Heaven forbid we have a little solidarity between women. That is too much to ask for. I am glad that you got your emotional boost by being “supportive” of the cause to uplift black women. How about next time you try do it without making yourself feel good, and running others down.